Red is always a tough color to look at on notes. Had they toned it down a bit it would have probably looked better. Guy
Every culture perceives, symbolizes and applies color differently with their own set of aesthetic principles. It's really hard to say whether it is really over the top or not. I don't dislike them, but for some it may be too bold or even too childish looking like toy money. However, it's not really so garish nor juvenile, and I'd bet a lot more thought went into it than may first be assumed by those not familiar with the series and dynamics of people and deciding factors behind the notes. I recall we had a discussion on such things about some African notes within the last year where a collector brought up a wild design with heavy patterns and a lot of negative reaction quickly followed, but it says more about everyone's cultural differences and knee jerk reactions to visual stimulus when it differs so greatly from our own norms. Thanks for posting these notes. I have never seen them but have always admired research and documentary work on Easter Island culture as it always seems to be a great mystery to the world that we can learn from.
In case you did not already know . . . . . . these notes have nothing to do with Easter Island. They are a fantasy issue and are not legal tender on Easter Island or in Chile. They are printed and issued by the same company that produces the Antartica notes. The text on the Easter Island notes says they can be exchanged for US$1.00 at their office anytime in the next ten years. There is also a 500 rongo note that will also be exchanged for US$1.00. I would not read too much into the cultural significance of anything on these notes since they were not designed by the islanders.
That is good to know, and indeed I did not know of their full status as currency or not. Perhaps why I had not seen these before and just here for the first time. And yet the comments may still apply, now in the hypothetical.
Me too. Even if its not an official note, I like it. Why does money have to be stale and boring. What the heck is wrong with bright reds, brillaint oranges, etc? I think money like this in my pocket would cheer me up over stale old dead presidents.
Add another to the like column. It is different and red but it catches the eye. I would be proud to own it.
I think as Americans we are so use to plain jane green notes. I remember when they first released the new $10 bill and everyone hated it no I bet it goes unnoticed.
It might say more about how the designers viewed that culture than the south pacific islanders culture itself. Thanks for letting me know, In a similar vein are some banknotes still designed and executed by a third party, in much the way the american bank note company did so many foreign notes?
And that's exactly the reason it was designed -- to be eye catching and easy to market. This was never intended to circulate, it's just a colorful sheet of paper.
